Why experience matters when choosing a private investigator in New Zealand

By Dave Pizzini

Choosing the right private investigator can make a significant difference when the stakes are high. Veritas Investigations brings together licensed New Zealand private investigators with extensive Police investigation and private investigation experience, supporting clients with workplace investigations, litigation support, criminal defence matters, prosecution support, and complex factual enquiries.

At Veritas Investigations, we have a team of eight licensed private investigators, including two directors and six associates. Our team offers clients more than 200 years of combined New Zealand Police investigation and private investigation experience. Here are three reasons why experience matters when selecting an investigation firm:

1.      We are selected and engaged in challenging assignments. One example was the Commission of Inquiry into the Auckland Fuel Disruption, following the pipeline rupture at Ruakākā. We were briefed to answer twelve questions that four earlier separate inquiries could not. Within three weeks, we interviewed several witnesses and the person responsible for causing damage to the pipeline two years before the rupture. The evidence gathered answered all but one question, enabling the Commissioner to conclude with certainty who caused the damage, how and when it was caused, and which companies profited from the activity. Other examples include workplace investigations for a local body and a public organisation involving litigious employees facing allegations of serious misconduct. Both matters were resolved through comprehensive factual reports that held up under scrutiny.

2.      Some prosecutorial bodies do not have the expertise or capacity to bring a case together. This was the case in the Bella Vista Housing Development failure at The Lakes, Tauranga. Veritas Investigations was engaged by the externally appointed prosecutor to interview, brief, and manage sixty witnesses to prove charges under the Building Act against the developer, his structural engineer, and the block layer, after the Council evicted the affected homeowners and purchased their properties at market value. All three defendants were found guilty of most charges after a five-week trial.

3.      Jeopardy for our clients is high. Much of our work is litigation support for King’s Counsel and barristers in criminal defence cases. During the last 12 years, we have seen a trend in which some basic avenues of enquiry are not pursued. In many cases, the experience and tenacity of Veritas investigators help protect a client’s right to a fair trial and reduce the risk of wrongful imprisonment. In one matter involving historical allegations from around fifty years earlier, three of four complainants alleged they had been taken to a boarding house in an affluent suburb and raped. The Crown case was that the client, who had recently arrived in New Zealand and could not speak English, had key access to an apartment within the building. No attempt had been made by Police to find the owner at the relevant time. For the appeal, Veritas identified the owner and located him in an Asian country. His testimony resulted in the convictions being set aside and a new trial being ordered. At retrial, the landlord’s evidence was pivotal in the client being acquitted of all charges, because it was not plausible that he had key access to the scene of the alleged offending.

Just as skilled and experienced defence counsel play a vital role in our criminal justice system, so too do experienced private investigators. At Veritas Investigations, we go the extra mile to serve our clients’ interests, completing every assignment to the highest standard and on time. If you need investigation support for a workplace matter, litigation, criminal defence, prosecution preparation, or a complex factual enquiry, contact Veritas Investigations to discuss how our experience can help.

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